


A Mayfly's Sentiment

by SilverKitsune



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Karatoga (IDOLiSH7), M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:35:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24106813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverKitsune/pseuds/SilverKitsune
Summary: A human's life is but a mayfly's compared to the enduring immortality of a youkai. Kamaitachi thought he could ignore it - but he learns, no matter what he does, nothing can stop the passage of time and the inevitability that is human mortality.
Relationships: Izumi Mitsuki/Rokuya Nagi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	A Mayfly's Sentiment

**Author's Note:**

> There's some spoilers in here for Karatoga's story (namely who attacked Kamaitachi), and in case you need a refresher - Mitsuki = Kamaitachi, Nagi = Madoka. 636% inspired by [this](https://twitter.com/givemeabrekk/status/1259252411513921537?s=20) tweet, and then taken to its logical (depressing) conclusion.

He'd been warned of this beforehand, warned of how acting on his feelings would only bring him pain sooner rather than later.

* * *

“ _You'll outlive him you know,” Kyuubi no Kitsune commented one day._

“ _What are you talking about?” Kamaitachi replied, putting another bundle of ramen into a basket and dropping into the boiling water. “If you have time to comment on who I spend my time with outside of this shop, you can help me!”_

_Kyuubi no Kitsune sighed as he preened over his tails. “Just consider it friendly advice, from someone who is very much your senior in this world.”_

_Kamaitachi brushed off the comment. “The only thing I'm considering is whether that's a roundabout way of calling yourself an old man!”_

* * *

But he'd ignored it, hadn't he?

* * *

“ _What do you mean, you've been recalled to the Capitol?” Kamaitachi had won their spar that day, had known that Madoka had been distracted, had known he wasn't paying attention to their fight. “When? How long?”_

_Madoka didn't answer, but only looked away with even more regret than he'd had over that incident with Kasane that had led to Madoka backstabbing Kamaitachi. Literally, even._

_And that was when he understood. Shoving his sickle under Madoka's chin, he growled, fangs bared. “You weren't going to tell me, were you?”_

_Madoka gulped, taking a few steps back into the nearest tree before answering, “I-”_

_Kamaitachi interrupted him, shoving him harder against the tree. “You were just going to leave, telling me nothing and leaving me behind like those human girls you keep talking about, weren't you?”_

“ _I wasn't-”_

“ _I thought,” his voice choked up as his vision blurred, but he pushed onward anyway, “I thought we were at least friends.”_

_He loosened his grip and dropped his chain and sickle. Looking away, he continued, “But I guess I was mistaken.”_

_Madoka massaged his throat taking a few steps forward to steady himself, “I thought it would be easier that way. I didn't think-”_

_And that was all it took for Kamaitachi's temper to flare again. “Didn't think? Didn't think?!”_

_He pinned Madoka up against the tree harder to make his point. “Maybe Kyuubi no Kitsune was right, maybe it really was foolish of me to think you considered me anything as more than another youkai to 'keep in line' in Hikagemachi. And to think I had actual feelings for you.”_

_A beat of silence fell across the clearing, and then Kamaitachi was backing away. Of all the things he'd been planning to say, that wasn't it._

“ _I- Just, just forget what I said,” he said, ignoring how his throat was tightening up again. He gave a watery laugh to cover it up before continuing, “It's-it's just another pra-”_

_But before he could finish, Madoka had closed the gap. Pulling Kamaitachi into a tight hug, he said, “I thought it would be easier this way because I didn't think you cared about a 'weak human' like me. Let alone the one that stabbed you in the back.”_

_Kamaitachi squeezed back, “Why did you think I was spending all that time with you lately, you idiot.”_

“ _I'll go talk to Commander Hanabusa tomorrow about getting my orders changed.”_

* * *

And that had been the start of it all, of them slowly building a life together – it truly had been wonderful at the start.

But then …

* * *

“ _But that's the thing with humans, Kamaitachi,” Kyuubi no Kitsune said one night as Kamaitachi dashed around the kitchen to close the shop._

“ _They're mayflies compared to youkai like us. They get ol-”_

_Kamaitachi whirled, the kitchen knife he'd been cleaning still in hand as he pointed it at Kyuubi no Kitsune. He didn't want to think about it._

_Didn't want to think about how Madoka was slowly getting weaker. How Madoka complained a little more often about his joints getting stiff in the morning as the weather got colder as winter rolled in. How Madoka moved around their shared room in the Katanashu headquarters a little slower than he used to. How Madoka couldn't quite keep up with him anymore when they sparred._

_How there were lines on Madoka's face where there used to be flawless, youthful skin._

* * *

But now, now that he was here, now that it seemed like there were more and more days Madoka spent bedridden, Kamaitachi knew. He'd tried to ignore how frail Madoka became over the years, jesting with him to ignore the inevitable truth – humans are mortal, their lives passing by in the blink of an eye to youkai like him.

He'd dug deep and hard into his knowledge of herbs and medicines, did everything he could to make sure Madoka ate properly to keep himself healthy – by all accounts, at the ripe old age of 100, Kamaitachi knew Madoka had outlived most humans.

But even with all that, there was nothing he could do to stop the passage of time, to stop the way Madoka's once strong and lithe limbs weakened with age, less still, he could do when he continued to weaken with his time spent bedridden.

There was a quiet squeak as the door opened, and Kamaitachi looked up from his bedside vigil to see Kyuubi no Kitsune at the door.

“No, it's alright. Stay there. I've brought some broth from the shop.”

Kamaitachi just gave a tired laugh. “Come to tell me 'I told you so' as my senior in this world?”

“No, not tonight,” Kyuubi no Kitsune paused to set the bag containing the soup on the night stand. “tonight, I come as a friend checking in on another going through a hard time.”

For a moment, neither of them said anything as they watched Madoka's chest rise and fall beneath the covers.

“Is this what you were trying to tell me all those years ago?”

“Yes.”

The answer hung heavily in the air. “Are-Are you sure there's nothing I can do to save him?”

“You've done more than most would,” Kyuubi no Kitsune softly answered. “And while we can do our part to extend a human's life to the extent their natural lifespan would allow us to, they are still mortal.”

Silence fell between them again, as Kamaitachi tried to commit every line on Madoka's face to memory. It didn't matter that his face had lost the youthful handsomeness that had made him so popular with some of the female youkai in town. Every moment they had left together was a moment to be treasured.

“I'll take my leave now. There's enough in there for both of two,” Kyuubi no Kitsune said as he gave Kamaitachi's shoulder a squeeze. “You haven't been eating much lately right?”

“I- thank you.”

* * *

It had been a rare day that Madoka had felt better than he had in weeks, and he had asked Kamaitachi to take him out to the clearing where they'd confessed to each other so many years ago. It had been a warm sunny day, and they'd spent much of it sitting against a tree and enjoying the breeze, talking about old intrigues of days long passed.

It was Kamaitachi who suggested it first, when the sun began to set.

“It's getting late. Madoka, are you tired? Do you need me to take you back?”

“No, not yet,” Madoka had slowly replied, “Just let me rest here for a little longer, against your shoulder.”

Kamaitachi took one of Madoka's hands in his. “Are you sure? You'd be more comfortable back at headquarters and it'll get cold once the sun sets.”

“I missed being outside like this. Let me rest here and enjoy the sound of the birds and the feel of the wind just a little a little longer.”

Madoka shifted, and Kamaitachi cocked his head to let Madoka whisper in his ear. “Were you happy?”

Kamaitachi turned to face him, blinking back the tears that threatened to come. “Don't talk like you're already gone. And yes, you've made me very happy.”

“That's good,” Madoka replied, settling back down onto Kamaitachi's shoulder.

They fell into silence as the sun slowly began to sink below the trees and the birds flew to their nests to roost.

And this time, when Madoka's steady grip slowly relaxed in his hand, Kamaitachi didn't bother holding back his tears.


End file.
